WHO WE ARE
LEKKER is a new kayak brand, but its founder is no stranger in kayaking circles. Celliers Kruger is a mechanical engineer by trade, and has been tapping into his specialized knowledge since 1997 when he started manufacturing whitewater paddles in his garage. Since then, he created two kayak companies (Fluid Kayaks and Vagabond Kayaks) and designed all products of these two brands, as well as a multitude of products for other brands.
All design and prototyping of LEKKER products is done by Celliers himself. For production, he is partnering with specialist manufacturers with whom he has long term relationships. His own substantial production experience enables him to guide his manufacturers to produce top notch products.
LEGACY
Celliers has worn many hats over the past 25 years. Below is a summary.
As a KAYAK DESIGNER, he has designed over 60 different paddling craft for multiple brands, covering everything from whitewater kayaks to surfskis to touring kayaks to fishing kayaks, and also some unique craft such as riverboards and surf, polo and slalom kayaks. He is known for innovative solutions to complex problems.
As an ENGINEER, he has designed kayak fittings of all types, including rudder systems, skeg systems, footrests, hatches, drainplugs, etc. On the other side of the spectrum, he has built a number of rotomoulding machines, both rock-and-roll and biaxle machines.
As a PADDLER: expedition paddler with descents on four continents; veteran of races like Dusi, Fish and Berg; freestyle kayaker representing SA at World Champs; safety kayaker and raft guide on various rivers in Africa and Europe; experienced in opening canoeing, surfski, slalom, wildwater racing and oar rafting.
As a MANUFACTURER, he has set up three different kayak factories, created manufacturing processes, trained staff and manufactured over 40,000 kayaks.
As a WRITER, he authored two published books: Run the Rivers of Southern Africa – a guidebook, and African Veins – a collection of paddling stories. He has written numerous articles for various magazines, and is currently working on his third book.
As a FATHER, he intimitely knows the experience of introducing children to the joy of paddling. Both his kids, now teenagers, enjoyed their first multiday river trips at the age of 16 months, and have grown up to be competent paddlers and passioniate nature lovers.
As a COACH, with specific attention to kids groups, his focus has always been on skills and enjoyment rather than pushing kids until they don’t want to paddle anymore.
As a SPEAKER his favourite topic is adventuring with kids.
All these experiences led him to create two new brands: his recently-launched CEKR Paddles and now LEKKER Kayaks.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
LEKKER is a true international kayak brand, but the name pays homage to its founder’s heritage: “lekker” is an Afrikaans word that is commonly used by all South Africans. Its meaning is wide ranging: pleasant, nicely, lovely, delicious, optimistic, tipsy… It is often the first word foreigners learn when visiting South Africa, and now they can learn a new phrase too: there is no better kayak than a lekker kayak.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
The philosophy behind LEKKER Kayaks’ designs is based on four principal concepts:
Performance
Every level of paddler, from beginner to expert, deserves to paddle with craft that has the best possible performance for their skill level. On Lekker craft, you will find no dumbing down. No leaving out of features that could make the difference between a good or a bad time on the water. Our aim is to keep paddlers hooked on the best experience they could have.
Stability
Many years ago, Celliers wrote the following in an article about boat selection: “If a paddler can’t put 100% of their pulling power into a forward stroke because of the need to use some energy to maintain their balance, the paddler is in the wrong boat. It is just about impossible to establish good paddling technique if a paddler is not 100% comfortable with the (in)stability of the boat.” This has become part of his mantra when designing new craft: every design needs to have maximum stability, relatively speaking to the purpose of the design.
Functionality
Everything you need, nothing unnecessary. This underpins the selection of features you will find on every Lekker kayak.
Quality
As a seasoned expedition paddler, Celliers knows the pain of being stranded in the middle of nowhere due to equipment failure. As a result, every design feature and every fitting is selected to ensure reliability.
